C M Y K Nxxx,2020-09-26,A,001,Bs-4C,E1 Late Edition Today, morning fog, clouds and peri- odic sunshine, cooler, high 73. To- night, mostly cloudy, fog, low 68. To- morrow, turning partly sunny, high 78. Weather map is on Page B12. VOL. CLXX . ...No. 58,828 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2020 $3.00 PRESIDENT PLANS TO NAME BARRETT AS HIS COURT PICK Will Lobby for Confirmation by Nov. 3 — Judge Is Conservative Favorite By PETER BAKER and MAGGIE HABERMAN WASHINGTON — President campaign in which he has for Trump has selected Judge Amy months been trailing former Vice Coney Barrett, the favorite candi- President Joseph R. Biden Jr., his date of conservatives, to succeed Democratic challenger. But it Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and could also rouse liberal voters will try to force Senate confirma- afraid that her confirmation could tion before Election Day in a move spell the end of Roe v. Wade, the that would significantly alter the decision legalizing abortion, as ideological makeup of the Su- well as other rulings popular with preme Court for years. the political left and center. Mr. Trump plans to announce The nomination will kick off an on Saturday that she is his choice, extraordinary scramble by Sen- according to six people close to ate Republicans to confirm her for the process who asked not to be the court in the 38 days before the identified disclosing the decision election on Nov. 3, a scenario un- in advance. As they often do, aides like any in American history. cautioned that Mr. Trump some- While other justices have been ap- times upends his own plans. proved in presidential election But he is not known to have in- years, none has been voted on af- terviewed any other candidates ter July. Four years ago, Senate and came away from two days of Republicans refused to even con- meetings with Judge Barrett this sider President Barack Obama’s week impressed with a jurist he nomination to replace Justice was told would be a female An- Continued on Page A17 tonin Scalia, referring to the jus- tice she once clerked for. On Fri- POOL PHOTO BY ERIN SCHAFF/EPA, VIA SHUTTERSTOCK day night, Judge Barrett was pho- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was honored Friday in a ceremony in Statuary Hall. She was the first woman to lie in state at the Capitol. tographed getting out of her car outside her home in South Bend, Ind. “I haven’t said it was her, but she is outstanding,” Mr. Trump Ginsburg, Obama and a Chance to Make History told reporters who asked about Catholic Vote Judge Barrett’s imminent nomi- ocrat who was then Judiciary nation at Joint Base Andrews out- Seen as Vital Committee chairman, had failed. side Washington after CNN and By SUSAN DOMINUS Over a Lunch in 2013, other news outlets reported on his and CHARLIE SAVAGE Justice Ginsburg left Mr. Obama Hints at Retirement with the clear impression that she choice. To Fall Victory When Justice Ruth Bader Gins- was committed to continuing her The president’s political advis- burg joined President Barack ers hope the selection will ener- ROBERT FRANKLIN/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE VIA AP Went Unheeded work on the court, according to Amy Coney Barrett would be Obama for lunch in his private those briefed. gize his conservative political By KATIE GLUECK dining room in July 2013, the In an interview a year later, Jus- base in the thick of an election the 115th justice on the court. Alisa Anderson, a lifelong Cath- White House sought to keep the tice Ginsburg deflected questions olic from Livonia, Mich., does not event quiet — the meeting called He did, however, raise the loom- about the purpose of the lunch. typically give much weight to the for discretion. ing 2014 midterm elections and Pressed on what Mr. Obama religious backgrounds of political Mr. Obama had asked his White how Democrats might lose control might think about her potential re- candidates. But the deeply per- House counsel, Kathryn Ruemm- of the Senate. Implicit in that con- tirement, she said only, “I think he Pentagon Leaders Worry Trump sonal way Joseph R. Biden Jr. dis- ler, to set up the lunch so he could versation was the concern moti- would agree with me that it’s a cusses his Catholicism has caught build a closer rapport with the jus- vating his lunch invitation — the question for my own good judg- Will Drag Military Into Election her attention. tice, according to two people possibility that if the Senate ment.” “Biden has shown us that his briefed on the conversation. flipped, he would lose a chance to With Justice Ginsburg’s death faith has led him through some Treading cautiously, he did not di- appoint a younger, liberal judge last week, Democrats are in a ma- By JENNIFER STEINHAUER and HELENE COOPER very dark times and I have admi- rectly bring up the subject of re- who could hold on to the seat for jor political battle, as Republicans WASHINGTON — Senior Pen- quell protests over the killing of ration for someone who can admit tirement to Justice Ginsburg, at decades. race to fill her seat and cement the tagon leaders have a lot to worry George Floyd, has caused deep that,” Ms. Anderson, 57, who is 80 the Supreme Court’s oldest court’s conservative tilt. But the effort did not work, just about — Afghanistan, Russia, anxiety among senior military leaning toward Mr. Biden, said in a Mr. Obama clearly felt com- member and a two-time cancer as an earlier attempt by Senator Iraq, Syria, Iran, China, Somalia, and Defense Department leaders, recent interview. “Trump has patient. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Dem- Continued on Page A17 the Korean Peninsula. But chief who insist they will do all they can never made mention of his faith, among those concerns is whether to keep the armed forces out of the unless it’s for political gain.” their commander in chief might elections. That doesn’t bother Nathan Sul- order American troops into any “I believe deeply in the princi- livan, a 29-year-old from Tucson, 18,000 cumulative observations of active fires chaos around the coming elec- ple of an apolitical U.S. military,” Ariz. For observant Catholics like tions. General Mark A. Milley, the chair- him, the motive matters less than 2020 President Trump gave officials man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the results Mr. Trump achieves on no solace on Wednesday when he said in written answers to ques- issues like abortion. 15,000 again refused to commit to a tions from House lawmakers re- “He’s a person of action,” said peaceful transfer of power no mat- leased last month. “In the event of Mr. Sullivan, who voted for Mr. ter who wins the election. On a dispute over some aspect of the Trump in 2016 and will do so again 12,000 Record Fires Cap Disastrous Decade Thursday he doubled down by elections, by law, U.S. courts and this time, citing abortion as his saying he was not sure the elec- the U.S. Congress are required to Major fires exploded in California, Oregon and Washing- most important issue. “I care a lot 20182018 tion could be “honest.” His hedg- resolve any disputes, not the U.S. more about what he does than ton this month, adding up to the worst fire season on 9,000 2015 ing, along with his expressed de- military. I foresee no role for the what he believes.” record. Page A12. 2015 sire in June to invoke the 1807 In- U.S. armed forces in this process.” Those two perspectives, from 2017 2017 surrection Act to send active-duty But that has not stopped an in- two critical swing states, shed troops onto American streets to Continued on Page A14 light on the radically different ap- 6,000 peal Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump hold for American Catholics, a di- verse constituency that includes 3,000 Other years some of the few swing voters left since 2001 Under Barr, Justice Dept. Goals in an era of intense polarization. Those voters are likely to receive significant attention in the coming Align With Presidential Message weeks now that Mr. Trump has Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. settled on Amy Coney Barrett, a federal appeals court judge with a Note: Active fires may be counted multiple times in the same location. Data is as of Sept. 21. By KATIE BENNER Continued on Page A19 Source: NASA satellite data, based on daily observations with greater than 95 percent confidence levels. BLACKI MIGLIOZZI/THE NEW YORK TIMES WASHINGTON — When the familiar with the encounter. Mr. top federal prosecutor in Wash- Barr told Mr. Sherwin to write a ington recently accused the local letter that said he had not meant police of arresting protesters to imply that the police had acted without probable cause, Attorney unlawfully. In a nod to Mr. Sher- Bombing Survivor, Afghan Teen Persists in Dream of Education General William P. Barr stepped win’s original objection, the Wash- in. ington police are working with was among the lucky who evaded when I entered the room, I saw the Mr. Barr, who has frequently prosecutors to identify video and By FATIMA FAIZI the suicide bombing that killed Highest Score on Exam brightest smile on my mother’s voiced his support for police offi- other evidence to back up the ar- and MUJIB MASHAL dozens of her fellow students at a face,” Ms.